FallCon - A Cornucopia of Gaming

Game Artisans of Canada, a homegrown Alberta group of boardgame designers.

They are officially joining us this year at FallCon to showcase a lineup of their best prototypes. All of these games are fairly late in development, there are no raw designs, and some of these games have already been submitted to publishers! Now you have an opportunity to play the game and offer your comments on the game play…before it even goes public!
  

 This Interview is with Rob Bartel. Rob is a prolific designer based out of Edmonton who currently works as a designer for BioWare, an Edmonton based video game studio. Seems like a great and natural fit! He will be running three official tournaments this year at FallCon. Busy Guy! He is highlighting a series of small fast play games he has designed in a series reminiscent of sports from the golden era. I have play tested a couple of these and I really like the idea and play of the games.

What are your current favorite three games and why?

Power Grid - This game includes such a wide array of different mechanics in such an elegant way. As long as there's one experienced player there to handle the nuances of the power plant deck, it flows very smoothly.

Container - The economic model can be brittle sometimes but it's so unique and interesting in how it plays out. Certain aspects of it are almost cooperative because you want your opponents to be wealthy enough to buy your goods. The fact that a local Alberta publisher (Valley Games) publishes it is just icing on the cake.

Small World - The game can seem intimidating at first glance and there is a lot of strategic depth and variability to it. The actual game play is very easy to play and simple to teach, however, to the point where I could see introducing it to non-gamers (provided the light-hearted fantasy theme works for them). We'll see if it continues to hold my attention over the coming months and years but, for the time being, it's on my hot list.

How long have you been playing games? What’s your earliest recollection of playing a game?

I grew up on the mass-market classics like Clue, Risk, Operation, and the Game of Life. My cousins were farmers and the Farming Game often came out when we visited, as did Pit and Stock Ticker. On the other side of the family, the speed game Dutch Blitz was almost a family tradition. Games seemed to be everywhere when I was a kid and that probably has a lot to do with my attachment to the hobby today.

Have we heard about any of your games yet? What is the status of them?

I've signed four games with publishers at this point and the first is scheduled to come out this November. It's possible that some pre-press copies will be available in time for FallCon and will be available for play there.

That would be great Rob, make sure you hook up with me, I would love to have a look at it.

How long have you been designing or tinkering with designing a boardgame?

I was introduced to game design back in 1994 when I was introduced to a RISK variant that captured my imagination and I continued to tinker with and evolve that variant over the years. Boardgame design didn't became a major hobby for me until the fall of 2006, however, when I was first introduced to the new game play coming out of the eurogame movement. Since that point, I haven't looked back.

What was the first boardgame you designed? What ever happened to the design?

The first boardgame I designed from scratch was Caribe, a strategy game about colonizing the Caribbean islands in the age of sail. I sent it around to some international design competitions in France and Italy where it always placed highly. In 2007 it won the Hippodice Award (Germany) for Best Full-Length Game. Despite the accolades, however, it's still looking for a publisher.

Where do you start the design process?

It varies. Some of my games start from taking an existing game design in a radically new direction. Caribe, a 90-minute strategic brain burner, began with the concept of taking a speed-based card game like Dutch Blitz and playing it out in slow motion. Others begin with a cool theme or with an innovative mechanic that I want to explore. Still others come from a particular emotion I want to evoke or from specific component limitations that I impose upon myself.

What’s the creative spark that gets you excited about one of your designs?

Much like my design process, I find inspiration from a wide range of sources. I'm not prone to designer's block so there never seems to be a shortage of ideas so it's just a matter of picking the ones that excite me and following through. Sometimes games get abandoned once the excitement for them fades; sometimes they just get put on the shelf temporarily while I work on another design.

What are your favorite game mechanics?

At this point, I don't have any specific game mechanics like Gerdts' Rondel or Knizia's auctions that I find myself repeatedly returning to. Perhaps I'll settle into a specific game play style or choice of mechanics over time but, for the time being, my games remain fairly diverse.

What themes (if any) are your favorites?

I work with a lot of fantasy and science fiction themes as part of my day job so, for the most part, I find that my boardgames tend to explore real-world themes of a more historic or modern nature.

Can you let us in on any designs you are currently working on?

Sure. I can't talk about any of my games that have been signed for publication until they're officially announced but the big project I'm working on right now is a series of vintage sport-themed card games that I'll be self-publishing in 2010 under the Famous Games label. There are currently six games in the series (baseball, tennis, car racing, football, hockey, and golf) each of them designed for two players and half-hour playtimes. They're small enough to fit in your pocket or take on the plane and will be affordable enough that you can purchase the whole series for less than you'd spend on a single typical board game. I'll be hosting some Famous Games tournaments at FallCon on the Saturday and Sunday so sign up early to secure your spot. 

Can’t wait to try them Rob, the covers look very attractive. See you at FallCon in a couple of weeks!

Thanks for the interview Rob, good luck on getting some of your designs published and with your future ideas.

They are officially joining us this year at FallCon to showcase a lineup of their best prototypes. All of these games are fairly late in development, there are no raw designs, and some of these games have already been submitted to publishers! Now you have an opportunity to play the game and offer your comments on the game play…before it even goes public!

This Interview is with Dylan Kirk. Dylan (AKA Wen Xiang) is a local Calgary designer who currently lives and works in Shanghai "doing all sorts of things". He will not be running any official tournaments this year at FallCon, but I am sure if he is able to attend he will be seen floating around the open gaming area with his recently published game Genji. Perhaps you could get him to autograph your copy!

What are your current favorite three games and why?

Go. This is the masterwork of all games. No other game comes close to it in purity, strategy, and philosophical depth. The interplay of atsusa and moyo, of extension and penetration, and of strategy and tactics make this a game for the ages. It's a game for the whole brain; a game to live, not simply to play.

Xiang Qi. IMHO the best of the Chess family. With only a half-rank of pawns, the games start fast and have a tendency toward the offensive right from the get go. The cannon is a unique piece and adds another tactical layer to the play: not only can you force the opponent onto the defense through aggressive play, but you can, through the creative placement of your cannon, deny him the opportunity to defend in certain places.

Viktory II. Admittedly, I would probably rather be playing a good, tabletop miniatures wargame than anything else in the world, but as a working dad I simply can't get the table time anymore. Nowadays, I have come to love ViktoryII as something of a replacement for my tabletop wargames and Star Fleet Battles. ViktoryII is fast, aggressive, has elements of both tactics and strategy, and forces the players into strategic compromises.

I agree Go is a fascinating game. I once read that the fastest way to learn Go was to lose your first 200 games as quick as you can.

How long have you been playing games? What’s your earliest recollection of playing a game

Started with chess at the age of 5 or 6, and that game is still my earliest recollection. I remember clearly being soundly beaten by my dad and not letting him away from the table until I had exhausted all possible board configurations to try to save my king. Of course, when all was said and done, I cried like a little baby. Obviously the loss didn't affect my future love of boardgames.

Have we heard about any of your games yet? What is the status of them?

Genji has been on store shelves for a while, and I have a few other games in the pipe, but nothing else is on the road to publication at the moment. I'm currently doing work on a space combat card game, a custom deck of cards with six suits, a game about Soviet collective farming called Kulak, and an abstract wargame about the Long March.

 

How long have you been designing or tinkering with designing a boardgame?

Forever. When I was in Elementary School I would get books about games and try to build the boards. In grade 6 I started into Dungeons and Dragons in a big way, and we of course made house rules for that. I had also started work on an Ironclad wargame in grade 6 that allowed players to build their ships with points on either a Monitor style or Merrimac style hull. I designed a couple games in Jr. and Sr. High school, and then in University during my war history degree my friends and I did all sorts of unholy things to Axis and Allies.

What was the first boardgame you designed? What ever happened to the design?

I'd have to say the first complete boardgame I designed was in Jr. or Sr. High. It was an abstract that allowed for different moves based on the configuration of your pieces on the board. I may resuscitate that one for a print and play game, it was actually rather good as I recall.

Where do you start the design process?

Experience. I start with an experience I want to have. For example, I want to know what decisions I might have to make as a commander of a tank troop, so I'll want to play a game that simulates those decisions adequately to satisfy my curiosity. If no game does so, I make my own.

For my space combat game, I did a lot of research regarding what games were out there, and the large proportion of them didn't seem to encompass the experience I wanted in the game. I started to design my own that was a break from the games I researched. Sometimes reading about something on wikipedia will excite me enough to think "I wonder what went through his head when he made that decision?" or "what would I have done when presented with a similar set of circumstances?". Then I will build a game with that theme and mechanics that try - as close as possible - to recreate some of the problem solving that went into that situation.

What's the creative spark that gets you excited about one of your designs?

The "eureka" moment when theme and mechanic begin to sing in tune. That point after a lot of sitting around and reading and sketching and card layout and charting turns into one beautiful whole.

What are your favorite game mechanics?

I haven't any. I kind of reject the idea of design from mechanics as too tactical an approach. Mechanics must fit the game, not the game the mechanic. If a mechanic that emerges in my game fits a certain classification, that's not intentional, it just happened to be the mechanic that fit. Even if I use mechanics that have been used before, I still design them from the ground up each time.

What themes (if any) are your favorites?

History, war, and politics. That's what I've studied my whole young life, my whole school career, and it's what I continue to do today, to a degree. The problems and experiences in these subject areas are simply limitless.

Can you let us in on any designs you are currently working on?

Well, I am certainly ready to get down to play testing this space combat game, and I wish more people would give me feedback about a little abstract I made called Block Kriegspiel. I've also got this card deck in the works, but there's no secret about that one, it's mainly revolving around how fast I can do the art. Every card will have its own Norse mythology picture on it. The art is somewhere between Alphonse Mucha, Nordic knotwork, and Marvel comics.

Sounds interesting Dylan. Hopefully if you can attend FallCon we will see some of these prototypes. I would really like to try your Space Combat game, and the Long March game sounds interesting as well.

Thanks for the interview Dylan, good luck on your future designs!

Peace

Game Artisans of Canada, a homegrown Alberta group of boardgame designers. They are officially joining us this year at FallCon to showcase a lineup of their best prototypes. All of these games are fairly late in development, there are no raw designs, and some of these games have already been submitted to publishers! Now you have an opportunity to play the game and offer your comments on the game play…before it even goes public!

To drum up a little interest in the games and designers, we decided to give them an opportunity to address our FallCon readers through this interview series. There is a chance at the end of these interviews to ask the designers questions of your own; I encourage all of you to take advantage. The designers will be checking in on these interviews and will be responding to your questions and comments. You can also head over to our forums and chat it up there.

This Interview is with Gavan Brown. By day Gavan is a not so mild mannered Graphic Designer and Software Developer. But by night, Gavan is an obsessive, insomniac Game Designer.

What are your current favorite three games and why?

1) Metropolys - WAY underrated game. Get it. NOW. I've never felt a greater level of intensity in a game with such simple mechanics.

2) Stone Age - The game that taught me that dice DON'T suck. Stone Age is one of the most innovative dice games I've ever played. It's also one of the most strategic.

3) Plants VS Zombies (for PC) - Games are Games. I'm not a slave to any medium in which the art of game design is offered. Plants VS Zombies is a revolutionary rendition of the tower defense genre, and will have you belly laughing frequently.

How long have you been playing games? Whats your earliest recollection of playing a game?

Games? my whole life. Euro/Modern boardgames? About 6 years. I grew up a hardcore videogamer. Like all children, I remember playing checkers and backgammon against my dad at a very young age. But the first awe-inspiring experience I had with a game was the first time I played Wolfenstein 3D. My keyboard shorted out from the litres of drool leaving my mouth, as I stared with amazement at a game that took you into the eyes of the player. And to top it off, you got to kill Nazi's with a giant machine gun. I remember actually placing my forehead on the 14" CRT monitor, so that the pixilated screen filled up my entire field of vision. No, I did not have a lot of friends, but my mom STILL says that I'm cool.

Have we heard about any of your games yet? What is the status of them?

Probably not, unless I've managed to con you into trying one of my prototypes. My first published game is called JAB:Realtime boxing, and is currently being rigorously playtested (thanks to the Game Artisans), so it can be ready for publication this Christmas. I will be holding a tournament for the game at Fallcon! For more information visit: http://www.playjab.com

How long have you been designing or tinkering with designing a boardgame?

That's an easy one. Just over 3 years ago, during World Cup 2004, also my honeymoon, I spent a large portion of time by the pool jotting ideas down about a soccer boardgame called Slide Tackle. And yes, we ARE still married.

What was the first boardgame you designed? What ever happened to the design?

Slide Tackle was my first serious design, which I dedicated 2 years to. It was in development until about February this year, when I decided that I was going to have to either a) kill myself or b) put the game away until I had some divine inspiration. All of the game's seven completely different renditions were playable. They were all missing that little something... fun. I will pick the game up again eventually and take another crack at it, because as they say, "Germany enjoys 2 things in this world: Soccer and Boardgames". Or was it "Soccer OR Boardgames"?... hmm, I may have to rethink this.

Where do you start the design process?

I think about any system, that inspires competition among humans.

What’s the creative spark that gets you excited about one of your designs?

I've always had this need to create things that people enjoy. Which is probably why I started a Multiplayer Videogame Center in 2002 called SwitchBox. My favorite thing in the world (other than my family), and what drives me to continue this sleep deprived obsession called game design, is having someone TRULY enjoy themselves while playing one of my games. That feeling came was a long time coming for me, when JAB came together.

What are your favorite game mechanics?

Anything I've never experienced prior. Which I guess could be categorized as: any mechanic that is so different, requires the BoardGameGeek administrators to add an entry to their list of mechanics. In other words, not any particular mechanic, but rather an instance of a mechanic that drives boardgame innovation forward.

What themes (if any) are your favorites?

I generally judge a game's theme not by how interesting I find the subject to be, but how well it integrates with the game's mechanics. Generally, when something this rare happens the players truly feel immersed in the game. When coupled with an innovative mechanic, the results are even more incredible. A good example of this in my opinion is Caylus, which really explored worker placement mechanics in a way no other game had before, but also integrated that mechanic perfectly with the theme. When playing Caylus I really feel like I am a part of that little medieval road.

Can you let us in on any designs you are currently working on?

JAB:Realtime Boxing - JAB is an insane real-time strategy boxing card game that melds the exciting action of a fighting video game with the physical interaction and strategy of a card game. JAB gives you direct control over your boxer's fists, providing an experience as close to real boxing as possible, without actually getting punched in the face.

Overboard - Historical economic game set in the north sea, where players try to catch fish before the impending storm rolls in. The game will feature a player driven economy, and a new mechanic that I've developed.

Firefight! - A realtime WWII game, inspired by my first Love: the RTS Videogame genre. Features unit "building", and a paper-rock-scissors damage countering system, multiple fronts and .... Oh ya... and it's real-time!

Howdy folks!

As part of an effort to get regular content onto the website, we'll be doing regular interviews with local gamers, designers and game shop owners. Our first series will be with members of the Game Artisans of Canada, a homegrown Alberta group of boardgame designers. They are officially joining us this year at FallCon to showcase a lineup of their best prototypes. All of these games are fairly late in development, there are no raw designs, and some of these games have already been submitted to publishers! Now you have an opportunity to play the game and offer your comments on the game play…before it even goes public!

To drum up a little interest in the games and designers, we decided to give them an opportunity to address our FallCon readers through this interview series. There is a chance at the end of these interviews to ask the designers questions of your own; I encourage all of you to take advantage. The designers will be checking in on these interviews and will be responding to your questions and comments. You can also head over to our forums and chat it up there.

The first Interview is with Matt Tolman. When he's not designing games, his other job is operating a construction company. Without further ado, here's the interview!

What are your current favorite three games?

#1 - Le Havre - I love economic games, and this game gives real strategic freedom to the players.

#2 - Princes of Florence - So clean, so elegant, It's perfect.

#3 - Die Goldene Stadt - Simple to learn, good player interaction.

How long have you been playing games? What is your earliest recollection of playing a game?

I've always loved games, I got Axis and Allies when I was about 8 and remember long games with my brother spanning several days.

Have we heard about any of your games yet? What is the status of them?

You might have seen Undermining in the schedule, there's a tournament on Saturday. It's been in development for over a year, and is pretty much finished now. I'm hoping a publisher will pick it up soon.

How long have you been designing or tinkering with designing boardgames?

About a year and a half.

What was the first boardgame you designed? Whatever happened to the design?

It's called King's Favor. It was about settling the outlying regions of a kingdom that was overpopulated. Each player represented an heir to the throne trying to impress the King with their settlement and win his favor and the crown. The game turned out to be boring as toast, but I still have plans to use the economic model I designed for the economy.

Where do you start the design process?

I used to start at theme, but Undermining started as the following thought: digging holes is fun. Undermining has been relatively easy to design and most people who have tried it have thought it was fun. As a result, most of my designs in the future will probably start with a mechanic that I think is fun.

What is the creative spark that gets you excited about one of your designs?

My main motivation is simply to fill holes I see in the board game industry. Like, for example, there's not really a western themed game I feel captures what I love about classic western movies, so that was my aim when I started designing "Wanted!".

What are your favorite game mechanics?

Hmmm, where to start. I love anything that pits me against other players in an elegant fashion. The auction mechanic in RA comes to mind, I also really enjoy pick up and deliver mechanics which heavily influenced Undermining.

What themes (if any) are your favorites?

I know it's been done to death, but I really like classic fantasy themes. But really, I can swallow almost any theme if the game play is compelling enough.

Can you let us in on any designs you are currently working on?

Undermining: Currently being evaluated by a publisher, and I'll be showing it at FallCon.

Boomtown (name will change): This one I'm really excited about, players will be taking turns simultaneously, drafting resources to try and build the best town on the frontier. It features live auctions. I hope to have a few copies for people to try at FallCon. Oh, and it supports up to 10 players.

Smash!: Finished card game. I developed this one with fellow Game Artisans of Canada member Gavan Brown. It's a real time game for two players kind of like speed, except absolutely insane. You can bet I'll have copies for people to try at FallCon.

Thanks Matt! Good luck with your designs and we're all looking forward to seeing you at FallCon.

Peace, Brent (aka Thunder)